Steerable vehicles, including cars, trucks, and buses, often include a steering wheel positioned in front of a driver's seat. Such steering wheels are traditionally mounted on a steering column, which is mechanically connected to the vehicle's road wheels. When the steering wheel is turned, the steering column also turns, and through the mechanical linkage causes the road wheels to rotate. Steering wheels and the columns that support them are often fixed, although in some instances the steering wheel can be tilted up or down to accommodate drivers of different heights. In some vehicles, the steering column may have an adjustable length, so that the steering wheel can be lengthened or shortened, again to accommodate persons of different physiological makeup. Notably, the total travel length of known adjustable steering columns is approximately eighty millimeters or less. Many vehicles, including both those that do and those that do not have adjustable steering wheels, utilize an adjustable driver's seat to compensate for the relatively small range of adjustability in the position of the steering wheel.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,899,623, entitled “Motor Vehicle with Retractable Steering Wheel” and filed on Jul. 25, 2012, describes a vehicle with a steering wheel arranged on a steering column and configured to move from an extended position, where the steering wheel is available for use in steering the vehicle, to a retracted position, in which the steering wheel is stowed during autonomous driving. U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2013/0110353, entitled “Controller for Steering Apparatus” and filed on Oct. 16, 2012, describes a controller for a powered steering wheel tilting mechanism. The controller detects the tilting angle of the steering apparatus based on a rotational angle of a screw shaft that is driven by an electric motor, and adjusts the current provided to the motor based on the tilting angle. Both of these references are incorporated herein in their entirety.